to provide that at least 35 per cent of the money of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation applied in a financial year is applied in making payments to persons in regional, rural or remote parts of Australia.

Amends: seven Acts to create a jobseeker payment to replace seven existing payments as the main payment for people of working age from 20 March 2020; 10 Acts to provide for the cessation of the widow B pension, wife pension, bereavement allowance, sickness allowance, widow allowance and partner allowance; the

Social Security Act 1991

to: remove the ability of newstart allowance and certain special benefit recipients aged 55 to 59 to satisfy the activity test by engaging in voluntary work for at least 30 hours per fortnight; and remove certain exemptions for drug or alcohol dependence; the

Social Security (Administration) Act 1999

to: provide that a job seeker’s newstart allowance or youth allowance be payable from the date they attend their initial appointment with their employment services provider; ensure that job seekers are not able to use drug or alcohol dependency as an excuse for failing to meet their requirements; introduce a new compliance framework for mutual obligation requirements in relation to participation payments; and enable the Department of Human Services to require applicants to provide their tax file number at the time of a claim; the

Social Security Act 1991

and

Social Security (Administration) Act 1999

to: provide that claimants receive payments from the date they lodge a complete claim; and establish a two year drug testing trial in three regions for 5000 new recipients of newstart allowance and youth allowance; the

A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999

,

Paid Parental Leave Act 2010

,

Social Security (Administration) Act 1999

and

Student Assistance Act 1973

to enable certain information obtained in the course of an administrative action to be used in subsequent investigations and criminal proceedings; and the

Disability Discrimination Act 1992

to exempt three social security laws from the operation of the Act. Also enables the minister to make rules of a transitional nature in relation to the cessation of payments; and makes consequential amendments to the

Introduced with the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer) Bill 2017, the bill establishes an ongoing funding arrangement for fixed wireless and satellite infrastructure (the Regional Broadband Scheme) by imposing a monthly charge on carriers, including NBN Co Ltd, in relation to each premises connected to their network that has an active fixed-line superfast broadband service during the month.

to: remove regulation of networks servicing small business customers; enable new superfast networks to operate on a functionally separated basis with the approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC); enable the ACCC to exempt small start-up networks from separation regulation; provide that all services supplied on networks that are wholesale-only or functionally separated will be subject to clear non-discrimination obligations; amend the enforcement regime, including conferring additional powers on the ACCC; and introduce a statutory infrastructure provider regime; Carrier Licence Conditions (Networks supplying Superfast Carriage Services to Residential Customers) Declaration 2014 and Legislation (Exemptions and Other Matters) Regulation 2015 in relation to sunsetting arrangements;

Introduced with the Migration Amendment (Regulation of Migration Agents) Bill 2017, the bill amends the

Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Act 1997

to ensure that a migration agent who paid the non-commercial registration application charge in relation to their current period of registration, but gives immigration assistance otherwise than on a non-commercial basis, is liable to pay an adjusted charge.

to: remove legal practitioners from regulation by the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA); provide that the time period in which a person can be considered an applicant for repeat registration as a migration agent is set out in delegated legislation; remove the 12-month time limit within which a person must apply for registration following completion of a prescribed course; remove redundant regulatory provisions; enable the MARA to refuse an application to become a registered migration agent where the applicant does not respond to requests for further information; require migration agents to notify the MARA that they have ceased acting on a non-commercial basis and commenced acting on a commercial basis; ensure that the definitions of ‘immigration assistance’ and ‘immigration representations’ include assisting a person in relation to a request to the minister to revoke a character-related visa refusal or cancellation decision.

to: restrict access to the relocation scholarship to students relocating within Australia and students studying in Australia; align pensioner education supplement fortnightly rates with the amount of study undertaken by eligible students; and provide that payments of the pensioner education supplement cease during semester breaks and holiday periods; and

Social Security Act 1991

and

Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986

to align education entry payment rates with the amount of study undertaken by eligible students.